By Eva Antczak
Eva Antczak is a graduate of UVM’s Environmental Studies program. In this post, she shares her experiences working for FarmsReach, a California-based farmer network organization.
When I started working for FarmsReach a little over a year ago, I had a feeling we were creating something unique. Now, well into the many months of hard work it takes to get a new business off the ground, I know we’re well on our way to making an impact in the sustainable agriculture movement.
As a Vermont native and UVM alumna with a deep passion for farming, food and rural life, it’s a pleasure to work so closely with the farming community of California. As our platform continues to expand (maybe to Vermont next!), it’s exciting and rewarding to find new ways to support farmers, grow networks, and do our part to ensure there’s a next generation of skilled people to grow our food.
I’m often asked about what we do at FarmsReach, so here is a brief overview of what we’re up to!
What does FarmsReach do?
FarmsReach is an evolving online platform co-created with our member farmers and partner organizations. We see a big opportunity to improve connections and information-sharing among the agricultural community. We also recognize the critical need to develop systems to help new farmers ramp up their businesses quickly, experienced farmers to optimize their operations, and just about all farms improve their bottom line.
FarmsReach focuses on four main efforts today:
1. Conversations, where anyone can post questions or issues. Our team ensures they are answered by the community (which includes many Extension advisors and partner organizations) within a day or two;
2. Toolkits, where we have curated the most commonly recommended resources for Business & Financial Planning, Marketing & Sales, Seed, Water & Irrigation, Farmland Conservation & Estate Planning, and Beginning Farmers & Ranchers. More topics coming soon!
3. Services, which we’ll be launching in the next couple of months: a services directory to quickly find input suppliers and service providers recommended by farmers’ trusted networks, and a robust Seed Sourcing Tool which contains detailed catalog information, as well as anecdotal seed performance data from California farmers;
4. Farmers Guild gatherings, which are monthly, in-person events in different regions of California, where new and experienced farmers come together for an evening of local food, a couple of beers, a casual speaker line-up, and a few hours to trade skills and resources. FarmsReach organizes these events and provides the online group Conversation forums so members can continue the conversation between meetings.
We have a few other features in the works, which you can read about in our blog and newsletters as they are announced!
Who is the target audience? How do they benefit from FarmsReach?
Our “official” audience is farmers and ranchers in California with revenue less than $5 million. We used to focus on “farmers and ranchers with less than 1,000 acres,” but we discovered that the desire for better business skills and community connection is more related to revenue than acreage. Ultimately, we want to serve small- and medium-scale family farmers and ranchers who want to improve their profit margin, streamline their operations, become more environmentally sustainable, and/or simply connect with others like them for support and camaraderie.
Why use an online forum?
We aren’t trying to replace the vital human conversations and connections inherent to farming, but rather provide systems so that the wisdom can scale beyond just one single farmer or advisor giving another single farmer information. With much of the farming population retiring soon, and the steep learning curve to understand how to run a profitable farming business, there is an urgent need to facilitate knowledge-sharing to the next generation of food producers – and fast!
How are you different from other organizations that support farmers?
Our intention has always been to amplify what other farm organizations are doing, and never compete. We’re very familiar with the diverse, often-changing programs of other agricultural organizations, which is why we’ve always been advocates of finding core competencies: where each of us in the sustainable agriculture movement focus on what each of us can do best. Our business model is such where we are only successful when our member farmers and our partners are successful. We are driven by win-win-win solutions!
Where are you expanding to next?
Once we feel solid in our California foundation, we hope to expand next year into Hawaii and then on to the East coast! I’m looking forward to all the great work to be done!
You can contact Eva with questions about FarmsReach at evaa@farmsreach.com.
